Creators furious as MrBeast nets $250K on Twitter/X for posting old video

Creators are furious after MrBeast revealed he earned $250K after uploading an old video to Twitter/X, sparking criticism against both the YouTube star and Elon Musk.

Jimmy ‘MrBeast’ Donaldson is taking his YouTube talents to Twitter, recently posting his first-ever full-length video to the social platform as part of an experiment to test the site’s ad revenue.

However, the test was soon met with backlash after users speculated that MrBeast’s post was being promoted as an “undisclosed ad,” with a swath of users claiming they were being served the video as soon as they opened the app.

A week later, MrBeast announced that he’d made $250K from the viral video, which he’d initially posted to YouTube back in September 2023 — and it looks like quite a few creators aren’t happy about this news.

MrBeast slammed as Twitter/X video rakes in $250K

MrBeast disclosed his earnings in a post on January 22, 2024. While he was clearly gobsmacked by the amount he’d made, he also called the big number a “facade.”

“Advertisers saw the attention it was getting and bought ads on my video (I think), and thus my revenue per view is probably higher than what you’d experience,” he theorized.

MY FIRST X VIDEO MADE OVER $250,000! 😲

But it’s a bit of a facade. Advertisers saw the attention it was getting and bought ads on my video (I think) and thus my revenue per view is prob higher than what you’d experience pic.twitter.com/nViVpZbWBb

— MrBeast (@MrBeast) January 22, 2024

Despite his explanation, a large number of fellow content creators are sounding off in the replies beneath his viral post, with many upset that MrBeast made so much money while smaller creators struggle to make mere hundreds on the site.

“Yeah wtf, Elon literally gave you all our ad revenue, ’cause we got NOTHING, LMFAOOO,” one user wrote.

“Interesting, I got $102.57 for 30 million impressions,” another posed.

“Lol so this is why my revenue was cut in half even after I doubled my engagements, lmao,” yet another said.

However, others are in MrBeast’s corner, with one user arguing: “Dang, all I gotta do is make increasingly high production videos and build a massive audience over the course of many years of grinding and hard work and I could make big money, too.”

Even large creators like CouRage commented on the situation, saying, “I received your video a couple times as an AD haha. Appreciate you calling that out. I wonder what it would’ve made without it getting promoted ads like that. Fun experiment!”

It’s worth noting that MrBeast has given away all the cash he made with the video to his fans, saying in a follow-up post that he would give ten users $25K each if they reposted his tweet.

This is far from the first time MrBeast has received criticism due to his viral online antics. In 2023, the YouTuber got hit with backlash after paying for people’s cataract surgeries as critics claimed he was “only seeking YouTube growth.”